Poll chief and poll commissioner are ninongs

Just My Opinion

By Raïssa Robles

After nearly nine years in jail while on trial for mass slaughter, former Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan gave his daughter’s hand in marriage in a glittering ceremony studded with top Philippine officials.

Sixty of them were not merely guests at the wedding held at Manila’s Hotel Sofitel last Tuesday. They were principal wedding sponsors or – in Filipino, they were ninongs and ninangs.

In the Catholic religion, ninongs and ninangs are meant to guide and help a newly-married couple build a family life together.

In Philippine politics, the tradition has been warped into something else. Ninongs and ninangs extend political connections beyond family. [READ MORE…]